Locking device for lids, box and trunk panels, and the like



April 28, 1936. v J. MdLLET LOCKING DEVICE FOR LIDS, BOX AND TRUNK PANELS AND THE LIKE Fild Dec 9, 1955 l9 T T'OE/VEYS Patented Apr. 28, 1936 PATENT OFFICE 2,038,901 LOOKING navrca non LIDS, Box AND TRUNK PANELS, AND THE LIKE Lon Julien Mollet, Asnleres, France, assignor tonicres, Fran Socit Anonyme dos 'Usines Chausson, Ass

Application December 9, 1933, Serial No. 701,519 In France December 9, 1932 3 Claims. (01. 2923) This invention relates to a locking device for lids, flaps and swinging box and trunk-panels, such as those of the rear trunk of motor vehicles.

Said device is characterized particularly in that the flap, lid or panel is connected to a stationary axis by means of. a connecting rod (provided with an operating handle extending freely through the lid) and of a crank connected together, the axes of articulation oi the connecting it rod upon the flap, lid or panel, of the connecting rod and of the crank upon the stationary axis being placed in such a manner that in the closed position the crank has moved beyond a dead center and bears against a stationary abutment,

1 thus insuring the locking of the flap, lid or panel in the closed position. I

' Another feature of my invention consists in that the crank constitutes a cam against whicli a roller or any other suitable element comes tot bear under the action of a return spring device thus insuring the balance of the flap, panel or lid.

When the trunk is provided with a swinging lid and a swinging panel, the connecting'rod is fixed upon the lid. and the roller or other device which engages the cam is formed integrally with a locking hook on the swinging panel.

This invention also relates to the boxes and trunks provided with the aforesaid device. In the accompanying drawing which illustrates, by way of example only, a device accord ing to the present invention;

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line I-I in Fig. 2 of the rear trunk of a motor vehicle provided with a device constructed according to the present invention, said device being shown in the-closed position.

, Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view 40 taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view, drawn on a smaller scale, which shows the various elements in the position of maximum opening.

The rear trunk for motor vehicle as illustrated 45 v in the annexed drawing is constituted, in a well i known mannerby a front panel I, two side panels limited at the top by a curvilinear profile abc (Fig. 1) a bottom part not shown, a back panel l which may be mounted: so as to be capable so of a swinging movement, and a lid 4 hinged upon an axis 5 carried by metal parts 8 fixed upon the front panel I. Laterally the lid 4 comprises a flange 8 engaging a channel 9 formed between the trunk panel 2 and an outer sheet metal plate 55 II. When shut down, the lid comesto-restfor example upon joints I, as shown in Fig. 2, made of rubber or any suitable material.

According to my invention and in the mode of execution shown by way of example the lid 4 is connected to the panel 2 on both sides of the 5 trunk by means of a connecting rod I2 and of a; crank I3. The connecting rod I2 is pivoted at A upon a. metal fitting I4 fixed upon the inner side of the lid 4; its other end is pivoted at 3 upon the crank I3 which in its tum is pivotally mount 10 ed upon the fixed axis 0 constituted by a trunnion I 5 carried by a metal fitting I6 secured at II and I'm upon panel 2.

The trunnions I5 which are placed on both sides of the trunk are preferably formed at the 15 ends of a common axis I5a (Fig.2) constituting.

a. tie member and'extending under the bottom of the tool box II. The two connecting rods I2 are also connected together by a very rigid tie bar consisting for example "of two U-shaped iron bars I8, I9 suitably assembled. The support 20 of a handle 2! is fixed upon said bars I 8-I 8 in the plane of symmetry of the trunk. Since the handle 2I is fixed upon the bars I8-.-I9 which rigidly interconnect the 5 rods I2 pivoted at A (Fig. 1), said handle'rotates along with the bars I8-I9 and the rods I 2} around the point A. Said support 2| extends freely through an elongated slot 22 provided in the lid 4. A joint 23 of rubber or any other suitan able material arranged in a recess 24 in the lid forms a rest for the handle 2| when in its closed position.

The shape and length of the connecting rod I2 and of the crank IS, the positions of the axes 35 A and C upon the lid 4 and upon the metal fitting I 6 are devised in such a manner that in the closed position which has been shown, the anglea: formed by the lines 0 A and C B is larger than 180. In this position the crank I 3 comes to rest against a fixed abutment 25 (Fig. 1) provided .upon part I6.

Consequently the opening of the lid 4 by a direct force exerted upwards upon said lid will not be possible. In fact the crank I3 cannot swing in the direction of the arrow because it is stopped by the abutment 25. Rotation in the direction of the arrow! is also prevented as the crank I3 having moved-beyond the dead center B any attempt to raise the lid 4 would 5 result in a downward pull of the connecting rod I2 upon said lid 4 in the direction of the arrowf When it is desired to raise the lid, the connecting rod I2 on each side must be swuns around the axis A in the direction indicated by the arrow f (Fig. 1) by operating the handle 2| so that the axis of articulation B comes to a point B located on the right of the dead cen- 5 ter 13. From that moment the lid 4 may be raised higher either by operating the handle 2| or by acting upon the lid itself. The crank l3 swings around the axis' C in the direction of the arrow 1, the axis B describes an arc of a circle B B B around C and the connecting rod l2 connecting at every moment a point B (Fig. 3) of said circle to the axis A, determines for every one of said points a position A ofsaid axis A and consequently a position of opening of the As the opening proceeds, the angles increases and then decreases so that the opening movement is interrupted when said angle has again come to its first value, the handle 2| abutting now again upon the lid 4 (this being aproxi- 'mately the position shown in Fig. 3).

The mechanism will'preferably be completed by a balancing device for the lid 4. In the mode of execution shown in the drawing, one end of the crank 3 has the form of a cam 26 having a radius which decreases from m to n (Figs. 1 and 3), said radius being constant and minimum when the length n is reached. A roller 21 guided by a guide 28 bears against said 30 cam 26. The guide 23 and the roller axis 21 are supported upon a metal part 30, which is provided with an opening 3| through which the axis lia extends. The length of said opening 3| is sufficient to-allow the roller- 21 to move a distance equal to the difference between the maximum and the minimum radii of cam 26. The part 30 is returned in the direction of the arrow it (Fig. 2) by'a spring 32 fixed upon said part 30 and upon the supporting part I6.

It will be seen that for every particular position or the cam 26 corresponds a certain position of the roller 21 and oi the part 30 and consequently a certain particular tension of the spring 32. This tension is a maximum when the cam 26 presents its point 111. of largest radius to the roller 21 (lid 4 brought down upon the trunk) and minimum when the cam 26 presents its point 11. oi! smallest radius to the roller (raised lid, Fig. 3) The feature that in the raised position or the lid 4 the smallest radius n of the cam 26 is in contact with the roller 21, is particularlypadvantageous since the force necessary for maintaining the lid 4 in its raised positionincreases when the lid approaches its closed posi- HOD.

The spring 32 and the cam 26 may be devised so as to allow a perfect balance of the lid 4 in all its positions. v

The part 30 which moves in a substantially 50 horizontal direction may be utilized for locking the rear panel 3 in its closed position. In that case the part 30 ends in a hook 33, Considering that said hook 33 mustbe able to free the upper edge 34 of panel 3 when the lid is partly open,

5 the part 36 is formed with an inclined cam groove 35 through which extends a fixed axis 36 carried upon part l6. Said groove 35 has a shape and a direction such that when the part 30 is returned to the right by the spring 32 the end 31 70 of hook 33 describes an ascending trajectory p q (Fig.1) which passes at 1' through the circular trajectory s t described by the upper edge 34 of the panel 3. Consequently when the part 33 has moved back the rear panel 3 is set free. 7 When closing the trunk the panel 3 is first raised before bringing down the lid 4. At the end of the stroke the hook 33 looks the panel 3.

As will be seen, the above described device is of very simple construction and its operation is perfect. On the other hand the trunk being pro- 5 vided on both sides with part I6 and its co-operative elements its closing is insured whatever the distortions may be.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my device, it will be understood 10 that various modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

. What Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters 15 Patent of the United states is:

1. A locking device for the hinged lid of a box, a trunk or the like having also a swin in p nel, said device comprising a connecting rod, an axis carried by said lid, one end of said connecting 20 rod being connected with said axis, a handle rigidly-connected to said connecting rod and extending through the lid to move said connecting rod, a crank pivotally connected at one end with the connecting rod at the other end of the latter, as a .fixed axis carried by the trunk, said crank being pivotally connected at its other and upon the second-mentioned axis, and means in combination with the crank for balancing the lid, and means automatically actuated by said balancing 30 means for locking the swinging panel in its closed position.

2. A locking device for a lid hinged upon a box, trunk or the like which comprises a connecting rod, an axis carried by said lid, one end of 35 said connecting rod being connected with said axis,'a handle rigidly connected to said connect ing rod andjextending through the lid to move said connecting rod, a crank pivotally connected at one end with the connecting rod at the other 40 end of the latter, a fixed axis carried by the trunk, said crank being pivotally connected at its other end upon the second-mentioned axis, the pivotalaxes of the connecting rod upon the lid, of the connecting rod and of the crank, as well 45 as the fixed pivotal axis of the crank upon the trunk being so arranged that in the closed position of said lid, the crank has moved beyond the dead center point located upon the line which passes through the pivotal axis 01' the connecting 50 rod and or the lid and through the fixed pivotal point of the crank upon the trunk, a cam formed integrally with the crank, a movable part guided upon the fixedpivotal axis of the crank, a roller carried upon said part, and a spring exerting 55 a pull upon said part in order to always keep said roller in engagement with the crank cam.

3. A locking device for the hinged lid of a box, trunk or the like provided also with a swinging panel, said device comprising: a connecting rod, an axis carried by said lid, one end of said connecting rod being connected with said axis, a handle rigidly connected to said connecting rod and extending through the lid to rotate said connecting rod, a crank pivotally connected at one end with the connecting rod at the other end of the latter, a. fixed axis carried by the trunk, said crank being pivotally connected at its other end upon the second-mentioned axis, a cam formed integrally with the crank, a movable part guided upon the fixed pivotal axis of the crank, a roller carried upon said part, a spring exerting a pull upon said part in order to always keep said roller in,engagement with the crank cam, said cam being so constructed that it presents its point 15 of minimumradius corresponding to the minimum tension of the spring to the roller when the lid is open in full, and its point of maximum radius corresponding to the highest tension of the spring when the lid is closed, a second axis fixed upon the trunk, a roller supporting part provided with a. second groove and guided upon said axis, and a hook at the end of said part the swinging panel in the closed position of the latter and 01 the lid, said seco:.d groove being so shaped that said' hook moves beyond the trajectory of the swinging panel at the end of a short 5 opening stroke of the lid;

LEON JULIEN MOLLET. 

